Measures of oral health status have traditionally been based on clinical measures of oral tissue pathology. Despite the growing movement in medicine to conceptualize health status in terms of ability to function in social roles, dental research has given little attention to the effects of oral conditions on an individual's social function level. The purpose of this study is to apply a behavioral approach to oral health status measurement by investigating the effects of oral conditions on work loss. A prospective telephone survey will be used to collect work loss data on a randomly selected employed population in Connecticut. Data on sociodemographic factors, regularity of care, health insurance and paid work leave will be recorded during the initial interview. Each participant will be re-interviewed quarterly for one year to gather data on incidence of work loss. Data on health-related work loss, both oral and systemic causes, will be collected including work loss due to treatment and preventive visits, pain, anxiety and cosmetic appearance. The incidence of work loss will be analyzed by major categories of oral and systemic conditions, treatment-related causes and psychological reasons. Incidence will be analyzed on an annual basis and on the basis of quarterly reports to identify seasonal variations. The effects of sociodemographic factors, health insurance and availability of paid sick leave will be investigated to determine if portions of the population are at greater risk or if any of these variables mediate work loss disability. At the broadest level of concern, this study will provide baseline data on the social impact of oral conditions. This measure of oral health status may be of particular interest to health planners in predicting health care utilization and to social epidemiologists in defining health outcomes.